There are a large segment of merchants, such as small business owners, including sellers, traders, servicemen, physicians, lawyers, notaries, insurance people and many others who cannot utilize a credit card system due to the fact they do not have an available point of sale (POS) system at the place where their deals are closed. This problem, a lack of a POS system, is especially significant in countries such as China and India, where the credit card system is not yet developed.
In addition, in more developed countries such as Japan, the credit card system is evolving to utilize the cellular-phone, in the hands of the customer, instead of the conventional plastic card and, consequently to the use of new POS systems with new interfaces, in place of the conventional magnetic stripe reader.
While this kind of evolution can succeed with some businesses, there is a need for a POS-free, credit card company-network-free system that would enable a “one-person” or small business, such as a movable person, with no POS system and no network or electric power, to complete a credit card transaction, a verified credit card transaction on-the-spot, any spot world wide, with a strong security, based on the most advanced security technologies that utilize digital signatures by means of the use of the customer and/or seller cell-phones.
The term cell-phone as used in this application will refer to any handheld or portable device with communications capabilities, and the term credit card or CC will include all financial transaction cards including credit cards, debit cards, smart cards, charge cards, and pre-paid cards.